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Wyoming Ins. Guar. v. Allstate Indem.12/21/1992
tracts which conflict with public policy, this court should also refrain from construing insurance policy language so as to conflict with legislative intent. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. United Services Auto. Ass'n, 211 Va. 133, 176 S.E.2d 327 (1970); American Motorists Ins. Co. v. Kaplan, 209 Va. 53, 161 S.E.2d 675 (1968).
By simply concluding that WIGA provides a "collectible" source of insurance, the majority eliminates the statutorily-imposed procedural requirement that other "covered claim" insurance be exhausted pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 26-31-111(a). Although both sides in this case expend substantial energy and effort to discuss what is meant by "collectible insurance," the majority does not hesitate to decide without elaboration that WIGA is a source of "collectible insurance." Compare Deisch and Marion, P.C. v. International Ins. Co., 771 P.2d 19, 20 (Colo. App. 1989) ("Because of the insolvency of [the primary carrier], the underlying (primary) insurance coverage was not `collectible by the insured * * *.'") with Wurth v. Ideal Mut. Ins. Co., 34 Ohio App.3d 325, 518 N.E.2d 607, 612 (1987) ("` ollectible' does not refer to the actual payment of a sum of money, but instead refers to the existence of other applicable insurance coverage based on the particular occurrence in question."); see also Wyoming Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. American Hardware Mut. Ins. Co., 487 P.2d 320 (Wyo. 1971).
As I consider this case, I find that the central issue resembles the "conflicting statute" argument raised by WIGA and addressed by this court in West v. Wyoming State Treasurer, 822 P.2d 1269 (Wyo. 1991) (involving the question of whether the State Treasurer had a right of reimbursement for paid-out worker's compensation benefits following a third party wrongful death recovery by decedent's survivor beneficiaries). In West, this court paid homage to our well-established rules of statutory construction when two arguably conflicting statutes need to be "harmonized:"
"`If the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, we must abide by the plain meaning of the statute, but where a statute is ambiguous, the court will resort to general principles of statutory construction in an attempt to ascertain legislative intent. Furthermore, it is a fundamental rule of statutory interpretation that all portions of an act must be read in pari materia, and every word, clause, and sentence must be construed so that no part is inoperative or superfluous.'" Matter of Paternity of JRW, 814 P.2d 1256, 1262-63 (Wyo. 1991), quoting Deloges v. State ex rel. Worker's Comp. Div., 750 P.2d 1329, 1331 (Wyo. 1988) (citations omitted).
Furthermore, " egislative intent should be ascertained, as nearly as possible, from the language of the statute viewed in the light of its object and purpose." Moncrief v. Harvey, 816 P.2d 97, 105 (Wyo. 1991). See also Allied-Signal, Inc. v. State Bd. of Equalization, 813 P.2d 214, 219 (Wyo. 1991). Statutes relating to the same subject are read together to ascertain legislative intent. Longfellow v. State, 803 P.2d 1383, 1387 (Wyo. 1991).
West, 822 P.2d at 1272 (emphasis added).
In complete disregard of our accepted rules of statutory construction, the majority in this case makes no attempt to harmonize Wyo. Stat. §§ 26-31-106(a)(ii) with 26-31-111(a). Instead, the majority redefines Wyo. Stat. § 26-31-106(a)(ii) by summarily concluding that WIGA furnished the source of collectible insurance when it "step into the shoes" of the Laramie Insurance Company. At the same time, the majority gives no consideration to whether or not Wyo. Stat. § 26-31-111(a) creates a procedural condition precedent that must be satisfied or "exhau
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